Jobs and Junk mail and the 90s

This morning, as I worked out and played a podcast, then as I 'doom scrolled,' I heard a couple of things that made me pause about where the world is going.

The first thing I heard was Scott Galloway talking about how perceptions of AI are based on income: those who make over $200k per year have a different mindset and recognize AI as a tool for productivity, whereas those below that threshold view AI as a replacement. (DOAC, with Scott Galloway)

The reality is, when you make $200k/year, you are being hired for an expertise and knowledge that many have not (yet) achieved. And while AI can write the bar exam and pass, there are elements of replaceable employees that make most companies look at lower-paid workers in terms of their value and potential replaceability.

You'll have optimists who suggest that with every new technology, there will be an initial disruption of jobs, but then new jobs will emerge, much like the industrial revolution and the emergence of the computer. I think we will have people re-teach us how to knit, garden, and do basic plumbing.

As AI gets smarter, it can do more and more of our tasks for us, from finding answers to reading and responding to our emails. That also means they can SEND emails once they have access... which, if you think spam was bad before, it's only going to get worse. We will eventually reach a point where we accept only emails from known/approved senders, and our text messages will become a burden. How long before we become numb to the bing noice of our text message and stop responding altogether.

We've already seen more and more AI on our social platforms, making them less enjoyable and less welcoming, and pushing us all back t

o real-life connections.

What happens if Canada's Bill C-22 comes to pass, where all activity online is preserved for law enforcement, review, and government access if needed? Even if you are not doing anything wrong, you can assume activity can always be taken the wrong way - Google search is innocent, but sometimes its weird.

All of this is moving us back to the ease of the 90s, the joy of relying on actual people for information, leaving our phones in our homes, pockets, or purses, and just living in the moment, using the libraries and sharing information.

I think we are all ready for it, after the pandemic, I think many of us took the opportunity look to care for ourselves, get back to basics, reminding ourselves of what is really important and cherishing everything. Perhaps this is the next step of the reset we've whispered under our breath.